Rain and 60

I was up a few minutes early and downstairs by 531am. I knowingly didn’t prep coffee the night before, so before doing anything else, I had to get that going. In the meantime, I could hear rain pounding against the roof and skylights. I glanced out back revealing that the rain had already eaten all the weekend’s snow. L  In fact, a little earlier there was a bit of lightning and thunder. But that was somewhere near 4am.

I breezed through sit-ups and push-ups then took to my PC armed with a cup of coffee. I was a little surprised to see that it was a whopping 48 degrees. Thankfully, it looked like the heavy stuff was already past us, and the forecast claimed that we would have breaks of sunshine with temps in the 50’s during the afternoon. Once again, we were on a winter roller coaster ride. As it was, there weren’t any major temperature fluctuations predicted for the coming week, but the weekend ahead looks like it may be cold enough to ski. We’re keeping our fingers crossed. We plan to celebrate Bella’s adoption day on the mountain.

I ended up spending way too much time online, not breaking away until almost 610am. I guess you could say that I was enjoying myself way too much. I went ahead and poured Mindy’s coffee and headed up to wake her. It was almost 620am by the time I was back downstairs for meditation and stretching. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time on meditation but even a little bit of time is better than none. Even though it was brief, it was rewarding. I can say the same for the stretching. It was incredible. 

Because it was so warm, I had to modify my winter attire. I opted to wear lighter running tights and a thin wicking shirt with the same pullover fleece.  I wore hand covers but only a ball cap on my head. It was spitting rain when I headed out the door. And by run’s end, it was enough to wet me from head to toe, but by no means was I drenched. I ran the full 4.1 miles and the time went by relatively fast.

Back at the house, Mindy asked if it was cold enough to warm her car. I informed her that it was near 50. She called off the warming. I still needed to walk the dog, however, so I gave the door bell a few rings. That didn’t work so I resorted to door knocking. That gets her every time. Can’t help herself. She took care of business much easier than she might’ve had there been snow on the ground. I suppose she picks up the required scent much easier.

I wished I had asked Mindy to make fried eggs as opposed to a scrambled omelet but I forgot. She had my eggs waiting in the microwave when I got back. It wasn’t long before she was out the door for work. And I’m pretty sure she asked the kids to bus home to Noah’s.

Running a little late, I wasn’t off to the shower until 740am. I opted to lube up my new haircut versus trying to blow dry it on day one. I wore black Dockers and an older purple button-up dress shirt. I wasn’t downstairs until just after 8am. I moved swiftly to put together a lunch. Thankfully, Mindy already had a salad for the ready. All I had to do was throw together some fruit, cheese and a banana. The kids and I headed out to the bus stop at 810am. The kids liked the idea of wearing just their fleece jackets. And while there were clouds directly overhead, the sky was nothing but blue directly to the west. It looked like a banner spring day in the offing. In fact, it sounded like one, too. Birds were singing and scurrying all about. Quite a contrast to last Friday’s wintry blast.

Kenny was out with the girls. Chatted about the crazy weather. And I also shared that I bought a new pair of skis. The bus arrived on time, and Eiknarf gave Mrs. Vanorder an earful just as she does every other morning.  Soon the kids were on their way to school and me and Eiknarf on our way back to the house.

I enjoyed a second cup of coffee while downloading Sunday afternoon’s photos. Time flew by. Always does when I get involved with my photo collection. I left for work near 830am. It was a lovely drive into the office. And by the time I arrived the sun was out in full force. Crazy beautiful. You wouldn’t guess that it was mid/late January.

I spent my day working on several things, some proactive and some reactive. In the end it was a good balance of both, which suits me just fine. Lindsey texted during the day asking about an oil change. I couldn’t/didn’t respond until late in the day. Too busy.  Didn’t hear a peep from Mindy. Ate my lunch at my desk. Didn’t consider heading anywhere. I did peer out the window from afar and saw that it was clouded over again. I checked the temperature a time or two. It was 59 degrees at one point. No doubt, couple with the earlier rain, a big blow to MRMs snow pack. Can’t say enough about what those folks have done to make the mountain ski-ready this year. Constant work!

It was just after 530p when I left the office for home. I called Mindy but Bella answered. She shared that she wasn’t having the best of afternoons, but couldn’t really say why. I did my best to cheer her up. Mindy now on the phone, she shared how crazy her afternoon was, including Lindsey waiting at our house when she got home needing money for her oil change and gas. Said she had to call my dad to get the kids off the bus after Dena called to report a really sick kid at home. Agreed to have chili leftovers for dinner.

Arrived home ahead of 6pm. Bella was doing math home work and needed someone to check her work. She seemed sad. I looked it over so Mindy could continue making our dinner, which we now agreed on chili dogs. Bella was going on and on about sucking at all of her school work. She made some mistakes on her math to which I tried to offer some help. She was being overtly fussy and whiney about it. Having fought similar battles with Jacob and even Lindsey way back in the day, I figured it was better to put the books down for a few minutes or until her mood improved. Bella liked that idea. But I explained clearly that we’d have to get back on it right after dinner because this was a gymnastics night too. She understood.

I had two chili dogs, and Mindy did as well. They were really good.. Both kids simply had a bowl of chili. Mindy warmed the leftover cornbread as well. I was gonna pass on corn bread but ended up eating just one piece.

While I managed clean-up, Mindy worked with Bella on correcting her math homework. She seemed to be in a far better place. Makayla was there for most of it.  Maybe that had a positive impact. As soon as her homework was completed, Mindy sent her up to change for gymnastics. And because Mindy was feeling a bit overwhelmed, I agreed to do both the drop and pick-up. That made Mindy happy.

Bella and I left the house at 650pm. We arrived still a minute or two early. As soon as

Bella was safely inside, I headed for home. We didn’t do a whole lot other than stretch out in the family room. I even dosed off for a few minutes. The time went fast. Soon it was 815pm and time to go after Bella. I got there right on time.

Like my last visit, the practice was far more populated than it was through most of the fall quarter. Bella gathered her things and we headed for home. Said she had a great practice and was the first one to finish her entire routine.  She was noticeable proud of herself, and went as far as to tell me just how natural gymnastics come to her and how it makes her feel right at home. She continued by contrasting that against her scholastic performance, citing that she doesn’t get it and my never get good at it. I listened but then shared how I can tell that she loves gymnastics. I went on to share that she would succeed scholastically too, because she’s a winner. Just takes a winning attitude and effort. She listened but expressed some doubt. J

We arrived home a few minutes later. She was quick to share how well gymnastics went with her momma. After some family chatter, Mindy sent her to ready for bed. It was already nearing 9pm. We were watching the American Idol program we DVR’d Sunday night that originally ran after the NFC championship game. At 9pm, after Idol, we tuned into American Pickers at Jacob’s request. I was surprised he wanted to watch it. It was entertaining.

Mindy and the kids were in bed by 930pm. I stayed up playing around online and watching a little more of the American Pickers. I headed to bed at 1015pm.